Mum kicks up a stink

Rubbish in the back yard of the boarded up house on Hampton Road Morecambe

Published:14:00Wednesday 17 July 2013

A homeowner is kicking up a stink about festering rubbish smelling her house out.

A homeowner is kicking up a stink about festering rubbish smelling her house out.

Katy Baxter,29, who lives on Hampton Road in Heysham with her son Alfie, four, who has autism, says she has been complaining since April 2012 about the state of the neighbouring house.

She said: “The house was flooded after a fire ripped through it. Ever since then damp has been seeping through the walls and my wallpaper is peeling off. There is also a smell of rotten eggs. It has made me and my son ill, we have been coughing with the smell and the damp.

“People are using it as a rubbish dump and there could be rats attracted to the rubbish.

“I’ve been sleeping on the sofa because I can’t use my bedroom.

“The council have a responsibility to sort this out and it has been over a year and three months now.

“It’s absolutely disgusting the way I have been treated.

Mark Cullinan, chief executive of Lancaster City Council, said: “We have visited this property on a number of occasions and are taking action to ensure that the problems which Miss Baxter faces are rectified by its owners.

““A notice has also been served on 32 Hampton Road requiring the owners to clear the rear yard of rubbish. They have until July 23 to comply and in the event that the work is not done the council will do the work in default and put a charge on the property.”